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Desdemona Style & Vintage will be having a pop up shop this Saturday at the Rochester Flea

Any of you readers live in or close to Rochester, Kent? …….. if so you are in for a real treat Desdemona is popping up at The Rochester Flea in Rochester High Street this Saturday (29th)

Desdemona will have clothing, bags, jewellery, sunglasses etc up for sale, so come and have a browse :)
If you are not local then you can always shop online (all links are on
my website, or feel free to contact me if you are after something in
particular)

This week, I was honored to be picked as their featured seller on their blog this month, here’s my interview…..
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Hi Hayley! Really looking forward to seeing you at the
Rochester Flea on 29th August. How long have you been selling vintage
and how did you start?

I’ve been selling vintage and quality fashion items for around 15
years now. I started off working in an underwear boutique in Bluewater
and the owner always mentioned what I was wearing and customers would
ask me where I got my clothes from. She gave me a budget and I would go
out and buy items and customize garments for her to sell in her shop
alongside the underwear and those items flew out the shop, so I started
setting up my own stalls, beginning at Greenwich market in London, and
it’s all gone from there. I had my own boutique that some of you may remember, Up the
Junction along the lower Rochester road, and that’s where I started off
my styling side of things and sourcing and supplying clothing and
accessories to costume designers and wardrobe departments for TV and
stage, which I still do now.

What do you love about vintage clothing?Well, I love the romance of where that piece has been, who wore it before you, what it’s seen and all that hippy dippy stuff!

But more seriously, it’s the design, the cut and the quality of
clothing then, time and care was taken over making a garment, it wasn’t
knocked up in some sweat shop in China, which brings me to the ethical
side of it… for starters wearing vintage or second hand clothing is
recycling so it’s good for the environment, it cuts down on the energy
and pollution made by producing and transporting disposable clothing,
and less goes to landfill.

Desert Island Discs?I love this question!! If Carlsberg asked questions this probably would be one of them ;) I’m a castaway!!

I have to start with a Beatles track as they are my all time favourite (BIG John Lennon fan over here!)It was my mum that got me into The Beatles when I was a kid (as well as Rod Stewart, T-Rex and Reggae!)

No.1 is The Beatles – Come Together.

No. 2 Eddie Cochran – Twenty Flight Rock. It’s in a great film The Girl Can’t Help It with Jayne Mansfield and it’s a great tune, nuff said!

No. 3 a bit of Doo Wop now that sounds like it could of fell off the Grease movie soundtrack….Del Vikings – Whispering Bells.

I was a Indie kid in my teens when I started wearing vintage
clothing, 70s flares, some kitsch skinny rib t shirt and my Adidas
Sambas, thinking one day I might be the first female member of Oasis!!
Oasis singles where great because you’d get 2 or 3 B sides that where
just as good as the A side so you got a lot a bang for your buck so…

No. 7 Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyd. I have my Dad to thank for my love of 70s rock music, he was a drummer in a band in the 70s, they were called Mind Cage! Hehe!

No. 8 isBo Diddley – Who Do You Love, just because ! And then I know you only get 8 but I NEED 9! This last track is
not only my teams song (Liverpool FC) but it’s the lyric, simple but
always pick me up when I need it, and its fitting with the lost of Cilla
Black this month…

Last week I visited the Imperial War Museum for their Fashion On
The Ration exhibition, The exhibition was a little smaller than
expected, but was really good if you are into fashion or 40’s fashion.It includes uniforms, utility clothing, “make do and mend” garments, wedding outfits etc.My favourite piece was definitely the “Siren Suit” a kind of
(more stylish) onesie that was designed to wear over nightwear to
maintain a ladies modesty while traveling to and seeking shelter during
night time air raids.
(Read my blog post about the exhibition HERE)

Favourite thing about Rochester?

The history, the boutiques, the coffee shops, the cobblestones

Sushi or Italian?

I’m not much of a meat eater and I’m not keen on sushi at all, you can’t go wrong with an Italian…. I do love a mean pizza!

Pink or Red?

Definitely red! My hair gives that away, I’ve never been that
much of a pinky girly girl, I even tried to dye my dolls hair red with
my mums’ red food colouring when I was a kid! As of this spring I am also a trained hairdresser, so I’ll stick
to proper hair colourants from now on, Promise! I’ll have a mannequin
head with a victory rolls hair style on display at the Rochester Flea so
if anyone’s in need of some vintage hair styling for events then come
say Hi!

Favourite ever vintage purchase?

Well that has to be the Austin Mini I had, 1966, Red with a union
flag on the roof, next to no mileage, he’d been sat in a garage for
years, he was a stud! But I had to let him go, I didn’t trust my driving
!!

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Specialist in Vintage clothing and accessories,I have been selling vintage clothing for over 13 years now, Worldwide, and have supplied garments for The London Transport Museum, ITV, Burlesque Performers, and a top West End show amoung other things.You can shop with us on Ebay, Etsy or Asosand keep your eyes peeled on here for the next stall(I also write any old junk on here about what I'm up to)